What happens if your team isn’t happy? Well, a few things can happen, but one that’s most likely is that they’ll leave – when that happens, you have to start all over again and find replacements for them, which is time-consuming, expensive, and disruptive for your business. Even if they don’t leave, they’re not going to work their hardest or go above and beyond for you, so it’s not ideal.
As a business owner, the best thing you can do is to make sure you put measures in place to keep your employees as happy as possible as much of the time as possible (bearing in mind they’ll always have bad days – that’s just life). With that in mind, here are some things you can do.
Ignite the Rise of Employee Entrepreneurship
Employee entrepreneurship, where staff have both traditional jobs and side hustles, is a growing trend. Economically, the cost of living crisis may continue to push individuals towards a “gig economy” with multiple income streams. This could lead to a rise in employee entrepreneurship, where people have both traditional jobs and side hustles. Businesses that empower their employees to pursue these ventures will foster a more engaged and creative workforce.
By supporting employee entrepreneurship, companies can unlock a wealth of benefits. Employees who are passionate about their side hustles bring a surge of creativity and fresh perspectives to their day jobs. They are also more likely to be highly motivated and self-directed, as they’re accustomed to taking initiative and managing their own time. When businesses embrace this trend, it fosters a win-win situation: a happier, more innovative workforce and a competitive edge for the company.
Help With The Work-Life Balance
Having a healthy work-life balance is crucial for good mental health and, of course, happiness, and if you can do what you can to help your employers achieve this, they’ll not only be happy, but they’ll appreciate what you’re doing, and want to do more for the business as a result.
You can’t actually make people work less and relax more, but you can help them if that’s what they want to do. For example, you could encourage them to take breaks and use their vacation time, and you can offer flexible work hours or remote working to help them make work fit around their lives and not the other way around.
Pay Them On Time
One thing that all employees are going to have in common is that they’ll want to be paid – not many people would do the work they’re doing for nothing, and although you might like to think they like their jobs, the money is definitely important – they probably wouldn’t be working if you weren’t paying them.
So that’s why you need to pay them what they’re owed and you need to pay them on time each week or month as well. Don’t forget that even a day late with salaries can have a massive and negative knock-on effect for your team, and it could lead to them not paying a bill, which could impact their credit rating, and so on. To make sure you’re doing it right, and that you’re including everyone’s expenses, use something like the Zoho One Suite as it makes everything a lot more organized.
Ask For Feedback
It’s also a good idea to ask your team for feedback on a regular basis to find out how they’re getting in and if they have any issues that need to be looked into or ideas that could be implemented. Listen to what they have to say and do what you can to help or to make the necessary changes.
Of course, you don’t have to action every request or idea an employee has because it has to make sense for your business, but you can take the time to think things through and action the ones that do make sense. When employees see that you’ve listened and acted on their feedback, they’ll be much happier.